Frances “Fanny” Gray was born October 18, 1820
in Tennessee, to Austin Gray, born February 10, 1788, and Mary Barnett
“Polly” [Smiley] Gray, born April 22, 1792, [taken from the bible of Samuel
Gray, in possession of Mrs. William Medearis Smith, Fayetteville, TN.
On June 23, 1842 she married James Cavener in Marshall County, Tennessee.
He was the son of Patrick and Keziah [Tucker] Cavener. In the 1850 census
of Marshall County, TN., they are listed with their children; James Cavener
28, VA., Frances 30, TN., Timothy 5, TN., Adaline 4, TN., Mary “Polly”
2, TN., Sarah E. 8/12, TN.. This same family is shown on the 1860
census of Christian County, Missouri. House #412, Fanny Cavener [WD] 37,
TN., Real Estate taxes $120.00, Timothy 16, TN., Adaline 14, TN., Polly
12, TN., Clementine 4, TN., Josephine 3, TN., and Martha R., 1, born in
Missouri. This census shows their youngest child to be one year old, and
Fanny to be a widow. So James Cavener died in about 1859. The story has
been handed down that he died en route to Missouri from Tennessee, and
it is not known where he is buried.
Fanny [Gray] Cavener re-married in 1860, to
Thomas Maples. Her oldest son, T.O. “Timothy” Cavener, married Martha
Fugitt and lived all of his life at Union City, in Stone County. He was
known as Uncle Tim Cavener. However, my father [Clarence Gold] told me
that there were 2 Timothy Caveners at Union City, at the same time. During
the Civil War, T.O. Cavener enlisted as T.O. Cavener from Crank, Missouri.
It was called Crank, MO., then School, MO. and still later it was called
Union City. A man named L.P. Crank, had a store and postoffice about
one mile south and about one hundred yards west down the valley.
That is where my grandparents; James Harvey Gold and Rozella Minerva
Garouotte were married by L.P. Crank, in that grocery store in 1890.
He later moved his postoffice and store to what was called Crank, MO. Then
they built a schoolhouse, so it was called School, Missouri. Around the
turn of the century the school was called the “Reynolds School”.
And finally it was called Union City, that stuck until this day. My dad
told me that Uncle Tim Cavener walked with sort of a leaned back limp,
and everyone liked him. He also said that Tim Cavener was a tall skinny
man. Uncle Tim Cavener and his wife Martha are both buried at the
Wise Hill Cemetery, one mile north of Clever, in Christian County, MO..
Their children were;[1] Nancy Elvaline Cavener, born Oct. 2, 1872, Stone
County, Mo. and died Oct. 9, 1951 at Springfield, Missouri. [2] Sarah
F. Cavener, born March 1873, and died in 1959 at Halltown, MO., and buried
at Wise Hill, Cemetery, [3] George Wm. Cavener, born Oct. 22, 1874 Stone
County, MO., and died December 1, 1897, buried at Wise Hill, Cemetery.
[4] Malinda Idella Cavener, born Sept. 23, 1876, Stone County, MO., and
died October 19, 1966, Springfield, Greene County, MO. She married George
W. Wilson. [5] Albert Cavener, born 1879 and died at about one year
of age.
Lucinda Adaline Cavener, was born April 18,
1844 in Marshall County, TN., and died October 29, 1898 in Stone County,
MO. She married W.W. White and they are buried in the White Cemetery, 2
miles southeast of Union City, in Stone County, MO. They were the
parents of 18 children, including 2 sets of twins. There are many descendants
in this area.
Clementine Cavener was born in about 1852
and died in 1950, she is buried in the Crane Cemetery, in Stone county,
MO.. She married Jake Saltkill and they have many descendants in this area.
Josephine Cavener, was born December 25, 1855,
and died January 6, 1913, and she is buried in Wise Hill Cemetery , in
Christian County, MO. She married Berry Damrill, and they had several
children.
Rhoda Angeline Cavener, was born in 1859 in
Missouri and died August 12, 1942, in Stone County, MO. She married Samuel
Saltkill and they also had several children.
By her second marriage, Fanny [Gray] Cavener
Maples and her husband Thomas Maples had two children; James S. Maples,
and Curtis Maples.
James S. Maples was born in about 1862. He
married Sarah E. Ellingsworth of Highlandville, MO. on December 29, 1887.
And they had several children.
Curtis Maples was the youngest of the their
children of Fanny [Cavener] Maples, he was born in about 1863 he
was staying with his mother in the 1900 census of Christian County, and
apparently stayed single until his mother died On July 7, 1901. Then he
married Rhoda Webb, They are listed in the census of 1910 with several
children. James S., and Curtis Maples were half- brothers to the children
of Fanny and James Cavener.

NOTE—Just a few days before Jack King died, I was at his place, about
one mile southeast of Clever. Jack had an old house beside the road, it
looked very old, so I asked him who was the last person to live in that
old house, he said, Fanny Cavener was the last person to live there, so
that is probably where she died., but no trace of her grave in the local
cemeteries. She is the grandmother of many descendants in this area.